Act One, Chapter Twelve: Retribution
After dredging up K'thormir's past at the city of Amaanlu, the band of heroes travel to the dwarven city of Hoelbrak to stop the demon once and for all. Category:Adventures The party, alongside Zorruvius, leaves the Vai'kesh Citadel peacefully and immediately begin riding to the Dwarven city of Hoelbrak. Few words are spoken between the adventurers; their purpose is set. Despite the confrontation, Desmond leaves the company to rendevouz back with Fritz Leiber at Fort Badassville. Zorruvius makes the point that the company is, in fact, attempting to confront a demon, and that if anyone would like to call for the aid of an ally, the time to do so would be now. Enoki uses Ashelotte's stone of power to call their warforged friend to aid, and Alredor decides to try to reach the pirate, Duncan Hobbes. Cignuss and Ace send a hawk to the Court of the Crimson King to summon both Roxanne and Ziggy Stardust, respectively. Before the party crosses into the northern reaches of the world, they see a group of mounted figures approaching them rapidly - Orcs, mounted atop Warg mounts. The adventurers ready their selves for the charge, and swiftly and routinely dismounts and annihilates the attack. When Enoki questions the last remaining soldier in orcish as to why they follow a demon, he replies that the orcs were promised to become powerful if they aided him. Alredor slits the orc's throat skillfully, and the party mounts their horses and resumes their travel. The party soon reaches the northern reaches, and the snow-capped mountains that house Hoelbrak. After navigating through the mountains, the party finds the city gates embedded into the great mouth of a mountain cave. The party decides to approach, but are immediately stopped by a regiment of dwarf crossbowmen. Enoki tries to reason with the dwarves, but it falls on deaf ears, as the dwarves refute any claims that there is a demon in their kingdom (in addition to the fact that the partly is made up of mostly elves.) After additional diplomatic attempts by Enoki, the dwarves additionally call the half-orc out for being a half-bred monstrosity, and obscenely insult his mother. Albus, meanwhile, charms the guard captain during the distaction. The dwarf is overcome by the magic, and invites the party in, telling them to enjoy their stay. The city gates open, and the party enters the city. Zorruvius advises the party to remain inconspicuous and not attract too much attention, as they are obviously unwelcome in the city. Mortimus agrees, stating that it would be most unwise to 'ruffle any feathers' during their mission. The party agrees to split into three groups to gather what information that they can as to where to go in the massive city to find K'thormir. Mortimus, Cignuss and Flownopee make a joint decision to head to the tavern, called the Wanking Camel Inn. Cignuss and Flownopee begin to formulate a plan, when the conversation is abruptly interrupted by Mortimus adressing the entire tavern, stating by his lawful authority as a paladin that the kindly dwarves of the tavern relinquish what knowlege they have of the demon K'thormir. Silence falls over the tavern as every single dwarf in the room stares at the curiously dressed human. One drunk dwarf strides up to Mortimus, accusing him of being pretentious and presumptuous in his doubt of the absolute safety of the kingdom and, in turn, disrespect for the king. He does this using slurred speech and obscene hand gestures. Mortimus attempts to relieve hostilities, but to no avail, and Cignuss expresses his frustration at the Paladin before four dwarves unavoidably begin swinging at the trio. The party engages the four in a bar fight, and manages to hold their own. A voice behind them calls out, "Well this doesn't look like much of a fair fight. Need a hand?", as Duncan Hobbes emerges through the entrance of the tavern and knocks a dwarf unconscious. With even numbers, the four easily pick off the remaining dwarves, who crawl back to their drinks cursing the heroes and proclaiming that the king would make them rich. Meanwhile, Ace takes Queen Juggaband Blues and Albus to the city marketplace to gather information. After selling a bag of gems to a matronly dwarf in a jewelry booth, Ace strikes up a conversation with her, learning that the dwarven king of Hoelbrak, Finbar, has been in good standing with the city for twenty years and has comissioned a great drilling project in the furthest reaches of the mines in an assured attempt to make Hoelbrak flow with wealth. When questioned as to the validity of Finbar's claim, the woman seems taken aback and is quick to support the king's choices. Ace makes note of a mine to the east of the marketplace, where mine carts run in and out in great numbers, and guards patrol the entrance vigilantly... Zorruvius, Alredor and Enoki choose to investigate where those of holy backgrounds may find better luck - the city temple. Upon entering, the three engage an elderly dwarven priest in conversation. He takes a liking to the trio, and agrees to request an audience with the king. The king's guards agree, and they enter the main chamber to find a number of dwarves swarming around a cloaked and hooded female figure. The figure turns to the party to expose her platinum face, and Ashelotte extends her hand in greeting. Alredor hides in the shadows of the keep as the remaining three are escorted to the king's throne room, but are ordered to leave their weapons in the lobby. Upon their entry, they are met with the sight of a stocky dwarf wearing a crown and sitting upon a grand, jeweled throne conversing with a dwarf of lesser status beside hime. The party greets the king while Alredor snoops around the room in search of clues. Enoki engages the king in conversation and the two hit it off quite nicely at first. Enoki warns the King about a possible demon presence in the kingdom, who goes by the name of "Christo." The kings advisor flinches noticeably. Enoki makes several more mentions of the demon Christo during the course of the exchange (with similar results by the advisor) but the king refutes the Half-Orc, stating that nothing gets past him. The advisor whispers to the king, and a somber look falls over the king's face. The king exclaims that they posess a spy and are no longer welcome in the kingdom. He calls for guards and are escourted out. Instead of taking them to the city gates, however, they are taken to a dark alley. The guards draw their weapons. The rest of the party, now united, are in search of the third split. Ace tracks the members to an alley. The party stands in confusion for a few seconds before Zorruvius, Alredor, Enoki and Ashelotte bolt from the alleyway, with three dwarf guards in tow. The three are quickly dispatched, and, after retrieving their weapons, the reunited party reconvenes in secrecy from the now vigilant dwarves, and sets out to seek the famed drill in the depths of the mines. Albus distracts the guard posted at the mine entrance with a charm, allowing the party to move freely through. Things go smoothly until Flownopee realizes (halfway through the mine entrance) that she cannot fit, and is rendered stuck. Flownopee wiggles her way into backing out of the entrance. Although Duncan suggests to use explosives to blast the entrance open, Ace attempts to try using the warrior's combined strength to wrench the wizard through. Thanks to a successful shove by Mortimus, Flownopee erupts violently through the entrance and tumbles down th emineshaft with great velocity, smashing everything in her path. The party follows. Following Flownopee's path of destruction, the adverturers observe that the cave walls of the mine become corrupted as the elevation decreases - the stone takes on the characteristics of hellish brimstone. Eventually the passage empties into a large, deep chamber. Mesmerized dwarves mine as slaves on the walls of the cave, silently. The only noise in the cavern is the sound of a great drill. After dispatching a unit of chaos spirits and bound creatures, the party begins to make its way to the bottom of the mine. The noise of the drilling becomes unbearably louder during the descent, echoing loudly from the drill, surrounded with power and magical energy of the void. Finally, they reach the bottom of the cavern, to find two figures atop the drilling platform - a cleric girl dressed in blue with black hair standing calmly, and a man with unkempt hair and a top hat levitating above, amidst a cloud of red lightning and bound by chains. Calixto faces the band of adventurers and greets them cheerfully, before cringing in response to electrical feedback. The body of Viera turns to face the party. Her eyes are black and red. A voice etched in darkness shrieks from her mouth, "You pathetic, miserable ''wretches will defy me ''no longer!" The body begins to levitate off of the platform and becomes immersed in dark energy. "I WILL RIP THE FLESH FROM YOUR BONES!" A blast of white energy erupts from the body, and six orbs of light rupture from its source. The adventurers dive for cover, but a few are hit, including Flownopee. The light orb ricochets off of her significant amount of fat at hits the cave wall, exploding, sending shrapnel flying. The adventurers retaliate against the demon. Ace lets loose light arrows into the foe, and Cignuss attempts to jump at the target to no avail. Flownopee stands at the ready, charging ludicrous amounts of magical power into her meaty hands. The elf shifts, and releases four purple, high velocity magic missiles at the foe, blasting the demon back into the cave wall with a satisfying crack. Albus follows suit with her own barrage of missiles, equivocally weakening the demon. K'thormir rises from the rubble, angrier than ever. Ace, using quick thinking and his knowledge of boss fight mechanics, formulates a plan. He shouts at Flownopee to use her sheets of flabs to redirect K'thormir's projectiles. During K'thormir's retaliation Flownopee expertly stretches herself to maximum limits to reflect the orb of light, hitting Viera's body and knocking her out of the air. She looks up at the party with hellish eyes, and chants at Calixto, freeing him from his chains and releasing him to the ground. He draws a scimitar rippling with red lightning, rises three armored spirits from the ground, and looks at the party apologetically. "Sorry about this, mates." The demigod lashes out at the heroes chaotically and madly, battering them with with bursts of lightning and mad swipes with the scimitar with surprising alacrity, as the spirits hold the adventurers at bay. Calixto, always in good humor, makes common conversation with the adventurers a midst the fray, at one point stating that "Im really shocked at my behavior, you know" before launching a volatile lightning bolt at Ace. Viera's body writhes uncomfortably within a barrier of dark energy as the heroes fight back against the madness. Though the party is weakened by Calixto's blows, even the demigod cannot stand up to their combined power. The hammer of Cignuss bashes into Calixto's binds, shattering the links. Calixto grins mischieviously before disappearing completely and suddenly in a puff of red smoke, with his minions following suit. K'thormir rises from his barrier, seething with rage. Calixto then reappears briefly in front of the demon, making a violently obscene gesture at him with both hands, before disappearing once more. K'thormir looks at the party with fury, and taunts them angrily over the noise of the drill. His voice culminates into a scream, and a plume of red smoke erupts from the mouth of Viera's body and rises into the air, beginning to materialize into a vaguely humanoid shape. Zorruvius runs to Viera to diagnose her as K'thormir is revealed in his true form; a monstrous, red-skinned and horned demon of awesome size, shrouded by darkness, carrying a fiery flail and a massive sword. He bellows a roar into the caverns with a noise more fearsome that the drill. And the party draws its arms. Enoki begins to ready the Vai'kesh ritual, but is halted by Zorruvius. The cleric pleads with Enoki to hold off reading the spell; Viera's soul is stil bound to K'thormir, and reading the ritual immediately would bind both souls into the dwarven puzzle box - for eternity. He states that he thinks he can astral project his soul to retrieve her soul from the demon's, but Enoki is skeptical and hesitant to risk his own and his party's lives. Enoki senses Zorruvius's motives, and sees that he loves Viera, and wants to see the demon imprisoned for all eternity. He agrees. Enoki orders the party to stall the demon, while Zorruvius enters a meditative state. The party complies, doing surprisingly well to slow the demon while (mostly) avoiding his infernal weapons. Ace makes use of his quiver of light arrows, sinking one after another into the great beast with flashes of holy energy, each one extracting a howl of pain. Despite their valor, the party quickly loses the upper hand. The demon fights back with unrelenting rage and breaks the party's defenses. Suddenly, Albus gets an idea from something Enoki said to him earlier - any location will become sacred if a marraige takes place their. He grabs Enoki and the warrior Cignuss in the midst of the chaotic battle, ordering the priest to marry them at this spot. Cignuss violently protests, exclaiming that "This is not the time!" Albus persists, however, and Enoki agrees, preforming the rights of marriage to them.The tides of battle turn almost instantly. An astral voice whispers in Enoki's ear "Now." Enoki raises a hand toward the hulking form, and begins to read; "Exorcitamus te, Faenwyn; omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas...." K'thormir writhes in agony as Enoki finishes the verse, breaking the hold and charging directly at the half-orc. The demon bats Enoki aside violently, and the scroll rolls on the ground... at Cignuss's feet. The barbarian picks up the scroll, struggling to read all the big words... and shouts at the demon with emotion: "Creature of darkness, I cast you out, in the name of the Lightbringer, radiant herald of dawn! Begone and stray far from this land, and its heroes. The gods command you, they who still the sea, wind, and storm - ''ARGH" Cignuss is hit in the gut with the demon mace and is sent flying. The scroll hits the ground, bouncing and rolling before landing on the floor next to Flownopee. The elf picks up the scroll, attracting the attention of Ace. The two look at the third verse before beginning to read... "''Tremble in fear, Faenwyn! Enemy of the Lightbringer, you foe of the human race, you beggetter of death, you robber of life..." K'thormir, in a rage, rushes the two. In her haste, Flownopee drops the scroll, which bounces off one of her flabs and into the hands of Alredor. The elf swifly unravels the scroll, and reads fluently: "Begone, in the name of the gods above, and relinquish yourself of this land, forever. I bind you, faenwyn, creature of the dark. I cast you out, from whence you came!" '' K'thormie, in one final effort, howling in pain and misery, tries to grab hold of the scroll, but it is dropped in the struggle, landing at the feet of the newly-wed Albus Dumbledore. Albus ''Percival Wulfric Bryan ''Dumbledore. And the man lays it down. Like a woman in a brothel. ''"Ut Ecclesiam, tuam secura tibi facias libertate, servire te rogamus, AUDI NOS!" With one final shout, a pillar of light erupts about K'thormir. The demon howls in dismay, light surrounding him and burning him. A cyclone erupsts, pullin him into the cube. With a guttural cry, he is absorbed violently into the small, unnoticeable box. The crystal turns from blue to red, and there is silence, except for the sound of settling dust. Oh, and the giant spinning drill of awesome size, pulsating still with void energies. Flownopee and Albus examine the interworkings of the drill's control panel, trying to determine how to operate the complex machinery. Cignuss hits it with a hammer. The drill stops. Now... silence. Viera lays meekly, but breathing in Zorruvius's arms. The cleric boy looks up at the party with tears in his eyes, and nods with a smile. Enoki picks up the cube. It does not stir. All around the mine, enslaved dwarves regain their sanity. At first, they are confused, but shortly after, the silence is broken; cheers erupt, echoing throughout the mine. The dwarves of Hoelbrak - nay, the people of the overworld - are free. Far away, in Shadowfell Keep, K'thormir's army is being destroyed from the inside; the spirits of chaos have revolted against the orcs and bound. Fritz Leiber, Desmond, and the Shadowfell Militia and Army rides down the hill on horseback into the fray. Shadowfell is retaken within a day. Weeks later, during the aftermath and recovery of the razing, the heroes are summoned into the Shadowfell council chambers. A large party consisting of the party's allies stand in the room, including Ziggy, Ashelotte, Duncan Hobbes, Michi Moh, Zorruvius, Viera, and Fritz Leiber at their head. Fritz speaks to the party, asking the binders of K'thormir to step forward. He proudly acknowleges the accomplishments of the party with a grin, and declares by his power that the party is to be knighted. He announces boldly that the party will be known throughout the lands as the Sons of Shadowfell, and although the city is still being rebuilt, a great festival was to be held in their honor. "A great threat looms on the horizon. K'thormir awakened something in the mines..." Leiber smiled at the party. "So let it come." The Sons of Shadowfell stand united together in the council chamber. "And we'll kick its ass." Epilogue The feast is held in great excitement, and is enjoyed by all the people of Shadowfell. The party joins the festivities merrily, with even the motherly Alredor loosening her reign over herself to indulge in copious amounts of ale. Cignuss makes merriment at the Cake and Bacon, celebrating jovially with the citizens of Shadowfell. The barkeep places an enormous and impressive looking tankard of ale in front of the barbarian, claiming that its all been payed for. Cignuss asks by whom, looking around in the crowd. A glimpse of a wiry man in raggedy clothes, frayed red hair and a top hat meets his gaze briefly. The figure winks at him, before subtly disappearing into a cloud of red smoke.